Ellis Marsalis Center for Music
Opportunity = Education
The devastation that followed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina stretched beyond the loss of lives and property; the disaster also threatened a region’s diverse cultural scene with extinction. The musicians of New Orleans were some of the most impacted, many of whom lost their homes and livelihood.
“New Orleans is a city where, because of the cultural relationship of music to the people, there is a ton of talent here,” explains Branford Marsalis, one of the city’s most successful musicians. He has also been instrumental in revitalizing the area by finding ways to help his fellow artists and inspire young people to follow their muse.
Along with fellow NOLA-native Harry Connick Jr., Marsalis conceived of a low-income housing development known as Musicians’ Village. Located in the Upper Ninth Ward and built by New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, Musicians’ Village not only provides shelter to musicians displaced by Katrina, but it serves as a focal point for revitalizing the city’s musical activities.
The artistic center of Musicians’ Village is the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, known locally as the Center and named after Branford’s father, who is one of NOLA’s most influential performers and teachers. In addition to providing services to resident musicians, the Center offers after-school instruction for 8 year olds and up, and daily summer school courses in a number of disciplines—instrumental and vocal instruction, music theory, dance, and computer literacy—as well as homework help.
“There’s a building here and it’s open to kids in the Village and the surrounding area,” Marsalis explains. “They can have instruction. It’s a really safe environment, and it’s a nurturing environment.”
The 17,000 square foot music center includes a magnificent performance hall, classrooms, practice rooms, a dance studio, and a computer center with listening library. The facility’s state-of-the-art audio, video, and lighting equipment provides students with real-world tools used in today’s production environments. That is where Avid comes in.
Reinforcing its commitment to education and the recording arts, Avid outfitted the Center with the latest in modern audio production equipment, including Pro Tools 10 and Sibelius 7 software, Pro Tools|HDX and
Pro Tools|HD Native systems, and Mbox interfaces. This enabled the Center to offer educational opportunities to participants at the Center using the same audio platforms that professionals use worldwide.
Sibelius 7 is at the core of the Center’s music instruction. “Sibelius stood out to me, because it gave me the flexibility I needed,” explains Daryl Dickerson, the Center’s director of music education and audio engineering. “I could teach [students] how to sequence in Sibelius. I could teach them how to just do notation in Sibelius. I could teach them a multitude of things in Sibelius.”
Because it’s the same notation program used by top musicians—including Branford Marsalis himself—Sibelius provides students with the skill set needed for a professional musical career, whether they stay in New Orleans or travel internationally. “This is thanks to Sibelius,” Marsalis adds. “It’s made a huge difference in the way that we direct our music.”
“An important part of what we’re offering students is an opportunity to be exposed for the first time to behind-the-scenes careers they never even knew existed,” explains Michelle Jean-Pierre, the Center’s executive director. “We want students to know not everyone has to be a performer.”
As a result, students get hands-on training in audio engineering, lighting, and video production—from studio to stage—using the same tools as the professionals they work with. Dickerson sums it up best: “These kids want technology. They live off of technology better than we do.”
Starting with Mbox and Pro Tools Express software in the computer lab, students are given a solid foundation in recording basics and digital audio technology before moving to the main recording studio and the Pro Tools|HD family systems. “You see the same screens,” says Dickerson of the difference between Pro Tools Express and Pro Tools HD software. “So it makes them very comfortable with what they are going to see when they leave here and go to a professional studio.”
Thanks to the vision of Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr., and the technical support provided by Avid, the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music has become an important resource for aspiring artists and engineers in New Orleans. Everyone involved with the project understands that these educational opportunities will foster a new generation of artists and ensure the survival of the region’s important cultural heritage.